MLS Star Salaries: Worth The Price or Total Rip-Off?

David Beckham

The MLS

The MLS has been growing drastically since the arrival of David Beckham, and more and more teams are offering whopping salaries to European players. The New York Red Bulls and LA Galaxy have the biggest stars, but other teams like the Montreal Impact have some of their own. We'll take a look at the biggest salaries in the MLS, and evaluate if they are worth the price or a total rip-off.

Frings Scores Against Rival Vancouver

Torsten Frings-Toronto FC

About: Frings adopted the Toronto captain's armband after arriving in 2011. Since then he has only scored two goals and 3 assists in 33 games played. He missed a good chunk of the 2012 season after injuring his hip midway through the season. He has proved a capable player and leader, but lacks the ability to get on the score sheet. His 5 yellows in 20 games this year sound alarm bells, especially for a captain.

Final Word: Frings is a good player, but isn't worth his salary. He isn't even in the top 25 players in jersey sales, and doesn't find the back of the net often enough to deserve it.

Nesta Scores For Milan

Alessandro Nesta-Montreal Impact

Salary-$225,000.00/Previous Notable Teams-AC Milan, Lazio

About: Nesta joined the Impact for their first season on a free transfer. While his salary isn't whopping, it is still a considerable amount. Nesta only played in 8 games due to injury and hasn't made much of an impact in the little playing time he has had. Like Frings he is not it the top 25 in MLS jersey sales, but still sells a good amount and is a name that will attract fans to the stadium.

Final Word: Due to his little playing time, he is nowhere near being a good investment and takes away salary from better, less known players.

Robbie Keane Scoring On His LA Debut

Robbie Keane-LA Galaxy

About: The skeptics were plenty when Keane swapped Tottenham for LA, but it seems like the Ireland captain is fitting in just fine. With 18 goals for the Galaxy this year he is an MVP contender, and if not for Wondo's 27 he would have won the golden boot. On top of that he has 9 assists while picking up not a single card. He finished 8th in MLS jersey sales only behind names like Beckham, Henry and Wondolowski.

Final Word: Possibly a better buy than Beckham stat wise, Keane is worth way more than is salary, making him a great purchase for the Galaxy.

Cahill Welcoming Press Conference

Source

Tim Cahill-NY Red Bulls

Salary-$3,499,999.92/Previous Notable Teams-Everton

About: Cahill has arrived with whopping expectations since coming from Everton, and so far has netted a whopping 1 goal and 3 assists. He has only played in 12 regular season games for the Bulls and has received 2 yellows. He is 6th in the MLS in total jersey sales.

Final Word: Probably the worst big bucks contract out there, except for jersey sales. His poor performances on the pitch out do his impressive jersey sales, making him a giant bust.